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A global study of primary English teachers’ qualifications,training and career developmentAuthor: Helen EmeryThis research reports a global study of primary English teachers’ qualifications,training, teaching experience and career development. Data were collected viathe use of an electronic survey, which gathered almost 2,500 responses and indepthface-to-face interviews with classroom teachers and Head Teachers in ninecountries around the world. Subjects represented rural and urban teachers whoworked in state and private institutions. The findings indicate some global trends inareas such as the widespread nature of English Language Teaching (ELT) and thedrive to introduce English to ever younger learners. On the positive side, findingsindicate that class sizes are small for the majority of teachers (under 35 children).However a cause for concern is the low number of teachers with a degree, andthe number of teachers who have undergone specific training to teach the agethat they currently teach, or to teach English. These findings are balanced by thefact that 85% of teachers report they have undertaken some sort of professionaldevelopment training since starting to teach. Teachers were overwhelminglypositive in their attitudes towards the profession, and most said they wouldrecommend primary English teaching to others as a career. The study raises issueswhich it is felt should be taken up by ELT providers, and describes some solutionsto problems which have been developed in certain contexts.Confucius, constructivism and the impact of continuingprofessional development of teachers of English in ChinaAuthors: Viv Edwards and Dagou LiIn this article we explore issues around the sustainability and appropriateness ofprofessional development for secondary teachers of English in China offered byoverseas providers through the lens of teachers who completed courses at theUniversity of Reading between 2003 and 2010. We start by offering an overviewof English teaching in China. We then describe the collection and analysis ofinterviews and focus groups discussions involving former participants, their teachingcolleagues and senior management, as well as classroom observation. Evidence ispresented for changes in teachers’ philosophies of education directly attributableto participation in the courses; for improved teacher competencies (linguistic,cultural and pedagogical) in the classroom; and for the ways in which returnees areundertaking new roles and responsibilities which exploit their new understandings.Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings for both providers and sponsorsof CPD for English language teachers. We conclude that the recognition of Englishas an essential element in the modernisation of China, together with the growingawareness of the weaknesses of traditional approaches to the teaching of thelanguage, has opened up new spaces for dialogue concerning pedagogy andprofessional practice. It is clearly important, however, that new approaches to theteaching of English are presented in a way which allows teachers to decide whichelements should be incorporated into their teaching and how.Overview | 7